Insects, and the damage they cause, are a serious economic threat to fruit and vegetable farmers worldwide. For example, importing countries will block fruit and vegetable shipments from certain exporting countries, rather than risk their phytosanitary status by importing foreign fruits and vegetables.
One type of insect that is of major concern is the fruit fly. There are over 4,000 species of fruit flies worldwide today. The genus Anastrepha, found throughout the Americas, Florida and the Caribbean Islands, comprises approximately 180 species. Of these 180 species, 7 cause serious economic damage.
The Ceratitis Capatata, commonly known as the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Medfly), is the most widespread and damaging fruit fly in the world. The Medfly can currently be found in Guatemala and the Mexican states bordering Guatemala. If the Medfly reaches Oaxaca and/or Veracruz, it will have a corridor to the United States. Countermeasures, particularly effective means of pest control, are needed to prevent the spread of the Medfly to the United States.
Compounds known and popularly used in the art to control pests include Spinosad and Malathion. One commercial product which is well-known for use against the Medfly is SUCCESS (GF 120 and a spinosad concentration of 80 ppm), manufactured by Dow Agri Sciences. Currently, many other types of insecticides, herbicides, bacteriostats, fungicides, pesticides, plant nutrients or other active agents applied to crops and their surrounding environments are known in the field and are utilized regularly by growers to protect and fertilize crops.
Prior methods of application include manual application, foot-borne spraying, aerial application and tractor driven spraying. Manual and foot-borne sprayer applications are tedious tasks and inefficient at best. For example, if one were to place 3.7 gallons of SUCCESS into a container it would weigh a cumbersome 37 lbs. Often a spraying apparatus can weigh over 20 lbs. Thus an operator of such an apparatus would have to carry almost 60 lbs. while walking in often rugged environments. Aerial application is often thought of as the most efficient means of application. However, aerial application cannot be used effectively in or near populated areas, organic farms and environmentally sensitive areas. Aerial application does not effectively treat the area under the canopy, where it is ideal to apply insecticides, herbicides, bacteriostats, fungicides, pesticides, plant nutrients or other active agents. Aerial application to the top of the canopy leaves the composition exposed to UV Rays which will degrade the composition and leaves the composition exposed to the elements of nature which will cause erosion of the composition. Tractor-driven units, while suitable for their intended use, are subject to certain limitations similar to those of aerial application in that under certain conditions they are unable to reach the ideal target area in an efficient manner.